


The First Week

by bluestbluetoeverblue



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Marauders' Era, Muggle/Wizard Relations, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 13:45:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10765452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestbluetoeverblue/pseuds/bluestbluetoeverblue
Summary: Andromeda Black and Remus Lupin are not friends, but Hogwarts is the only home either has ever known, and each is dealing with some things during their first week back.





	The First Week

He caught a glimpse of her on the station platform. Her black hair was pristine as she listened impatiently to her parents. But before he could get a good look, he was swept away by a crowd of third years.

Her parents’ lectures about the importance of her final year and keeping to her house were halted only when the final whistle blew. Andromeda flashed a secretly triumphant smile and ran for the train. Pushing past the trolley witch, she yanked open every compartment door, disturbing students she didn’t care about, until she finally found one with a friendly face. Ted had his back to her and had just set his cage in the luggage rack when she tackled him into the seat. He turned in surprise at the girl on top of him and grinned, holding her close.

***

Remus sat alone in his compartment, nibbling on a chocolate frog and running his hand over the scars on his arms. He pulled his sweater down when the door opened and two dark-haired boys came crashing in.

“There he is!” James shouted, heaving his bags onto the rack. 

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Sirius said, flopping onto the seat beside Remus. 

“Where’s Peter?” Remus asked before finishing off the frog.

“He’s around here somewhere,” James said with a shrug, spreading out in the seat across from them. Remus frowned at them both.

“What?” Sirius said defensively. “He can find us if he wants to. It’s not that big of a train.”

“How was your summer, mate?” James changed the subject. 

“Quiet without you two around.” Remus’ smile turned into a yawn and accompanying stretch. Sirius grinned and poked him playfully in the ribs.

“What did you do, you know, for the full moon?” James asked.

“My dad does what we used to when I was younger. It’s not as good as the Shrieking Shack, but we only have to get through three.”

“They keep you in a room all night?”

Remus shrugged. James turned his attention to a quidditch magazine, but Sirius was staring at Remus’ hands. 

“Did you do that?” he asked, grabbing Remus’ hand hesitantly. Remus nodded, puzzled by the look of concern on his friend’s face. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t ever come back from the Shrieking Shack a little bruised. 

“How was your summer?” he asked.

“Sirius?” James interjected, looking up from his magazine. “He spent two months moping around,”

“Torturing Regulus, more like,” Sirius commented.

“—until finally he came to stay with me, where he spent the rest of the summer doing nothing but eating my mum’s food.”

“I can’t believe your parents let you stay there,” Remus said before Sirius got any ideas about wrestling James. He was too tired to referee.

“James is pureblood,” Sirius shrugged. “That’s all that matters to them.”

It had barely been a week since the full moon, so Remus—who had a penchant for falling asleep nearly anywhere anyways—laid his head back against the seat and pulled his cardigan tighter around him. Sirius and James began a heated discussion about some team’s outlook for the season, and their voices were like a strange lullaby for Remus. Everything was hazy when the compartment door slid open to reveal a disheveled girl with dark hair who was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

“Wasn’t that your cousin?” James asked Sirius, but Remus fell asleep before hearing an answer.

***

“Well?”

Andromeda sat with her back against the window, legs draped over Ted. She looked up from her book with a glance at the garden he was drawing on her calves.

“Well what?” she asked.

“How does it feel to be free?” he said with a smile, finishing off a bunch of daisies near her shin.

“I’m not seventeen for a few more days.”

“No,” he said, capping his marker. “But you just left home for the last time.” She considered this with a smile and shifted so that she was leaning into him, head on his shoulder. 

“And how do you figure that?” she asked as if they hadn’t spent years talking about it.

“Well, when we graduate in nine months, instead of going back to that—how is it you say it?—dreadful house,” she nodded, “you and I can move into our own flat.”

Andromeda reached up and removed Ted’s glasses, putting them on her own face instead.

“Tell me again,” she said.

“An entire flat just for you and me. Without houses or professors or your parents.” 

“I think this might be the first time I’ve smiled since June,” she said. “Careful what promise me, E. Because as soon we graduate, you’re never getting rid of me.”

Ted reached down and offered a kiss, which Andromeda was happy to take as an agreement.

***

They were halfway across the entrance hall when Remus heard someone calling his name. He turned, and from a group of Gryffindor third years emerged Lily Evans. Before Remus had a chance to wave, she had run over and grabbed him into a hug. Standing in that warm castle with James, Sirius, and Peter beside him and Lily’s arms around him, Remus felt at home for the first time in months. When they let go, Remus found his hand in Lily’s red hair.

“You like it?” she asked with a toothy smile.

“It’s short,” Remus laughed.

“I got bored.”

“How was your summer, Evans?” James asked, sticking out his chin. 

“Better than yours, Potter.”

Whenever they were all together, Remus couldn’t help feeling both bad and embarrassed for James. Remus didn’t understand why being around her made James into such a complete idiot. He caught a glimpse of Sirius glowering at the redhead. But then, maybe he did understand.

“Let’s eat, James,” Peter said. “I’m hungry.”

 

“Okay. See you in there, Moony,” James said, turning after Peter.

“We’ll save you a seat, Moony,” Sirius added. Remus watched them follow the crowd into the Great Hall and turned to look at Lily apologetically. She just laughed.

“You’d think they could have come up with something better. I mean, honestly, Moony? They might as well call you Wolfy.”

Remus couldn’t help but snicker as they started slowly toward the Hall.

“They like having something to hold over people, especially Sirius. I don’t know why they like keeping my secret so much; I’ve always hated it.”

Lily gave a smile and set her hand on his shoulder as they neared the doorway.

“It is hilarious that they think I don’t know. Imagine if they knew I figured it out first year.”

“They don’t ever need to know,” Remus laughed, “Sirius would never talk to me again.”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” Lily said with a wink. Remus stopped at the border between the halls, looking in at the tables full of kids talking and laughing with a frown. She might be his best friend, but there were some things Lily was dead wrong about.

“Meet me in the library tomorrow night?” she asked. “I want to hear about your summer, and I’m sure McGonagall will give us plenty of welcome back.”

“I’ll be there,” Remus said, his smile returned.

With a kiss on the cheek, they walked to the Gryffindor table and parted ways, Remus taking his seat between Sirius and Peter.

***

Walking hand in hand with Ted, Andromeda bypassed the Slytherin table to take a seat at the end of the Hufflepuff one with only a bit of hesitance. A few of the older Hufflepuffs looked confused, but Ted’s roommates acted as if it wasn’t strange. They sat shoulder to shoulder, and after the Sorting, she was able to eat dinner listening to the Hufflepuff boys’ stories and jokes while holding Ted’s hand under the table.

The thing about Hogwarts common rooms is that it’s not that difficult to get into another house if you pay attention. So when everyone had gone up to bed and the dungeon was quiet, Andromeda slipped upstairs to the kitchen. Having avoided any ghosts or professors, she tiptoed past the kitchen portrait to a pile of barrels and tapped on the middle barrel of the second row in a way she had seen a prefect instructing new Hufflepuffs to the previous September. Entering the barrel, she walked up a slope into a round room filled with greenery. In the dim light, she saw a figure slouched on an oversized couch and froze.

“I had a feeling you might show up,” said the figure with a yawn. Andromeda smiled.

“I’ve spent three months cooped up with Slytherins.” She made her way to the couch and curled up beside him. “Felt like time for a change of scenery.”

“We can go up to my room. The others won’t say anything.”

“Too tired,” Andromeda yawned, laying her head on Ted’s chest and closing her eyes. He pulled a throw blanket over them and set his glasses beside him on the couch.

***

Remus opened his eyes to find a set of green ones peering at him. He blinked in confusion.

“You okay?” Lily asked. He sat up, lifting his head up off the transfiguration scroll he had been working on before he dozed off. 

“‘Mokay,” he said in a raspy voice. He rubbed his neck, which had a sharp pain shooting through it at that moment. She stood back up straight with a smile that withered quickly at the laughter coming from across the table. Remus turned to see James and Sirius, who were had evidently been shooting wads of paper at each other while Remus slept.

“You need better friends,” Lily said to him. “The kind that don’t let you sleep on your homework.”

“Moony falls asleep everywhere,” Sirius protested. “We have to let him sleep or we’d spend half our lives waking him up.”

“The bloke needs his rest,” James agreed. “It’s not like I haven’t carried him upstairs before.”

Lily’s eyes softened as she looked at Remus, who rolled his eyes.

“That was one time, and you could have just levitated me.”

“See, Evans?” James laughed. “Remus doesn’t need you to be his mummy.”

Remus looked from one friend to the other, his unbiased third party observer mode kicking in. 

“Honestly,” Lily said, tilting her head. “I’m surprised you two even know where the library is.”

James gave a fake laugh, and Sirius cut in before he had a chance to respond.

“Well, we can’t all be stuck up know it alls.” 

It was Lily’s turn to laugh now as James grinned at his friend. 

“And what research is it that you’ve abandoned for your charming games?” She picked up the open book in front of Sirius. “Anim—”

Sirius ripped the book out of her hands before she could finish reading the chapter heading. She took a step back as silence fell over the table. Lily gave Sirius a confused look. Reading a book aloud wasn’t exactly outside the dynamic. The four of them stared at each other until James finally broke the silence.

“You wouldn’t want to spoil our next surprise, would you Evans?”

“Next surprise?” she asked with disdain.

“It’s the start of the year,” James said, as if it was obvious. “We’ve got to do something big to celebrate. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to give you a front row seat.” He looked up at her, raising his eyebrows.

Lily gave him her signature bored look before turning to Remus.

“I’ll see you in Herbology. Don’t let them get you into trouble.” 

After she disappeared around the bookcases, the boys stood up and got ready to go, Sirius slipping the book into his bag.

“So what is it, our next surprise?” Remus asked. James and Sirius looked at each other for a moment.

“It’s still in the concept phase,” James said. “We’ll let you know when we know for sure.”

That night, after the room had gone quiet save James’ snoring, Remus lay staring at the darkness above him. He had just closed his eyes when he heard Sirius whisper, “Lumos.” Remus peeked through the curtain at Sirius’ bed across the room, where he saw his silhouette leaning over a book. It was strange for them not to tell Remus about their plans. Sure, Remus had been disapproving of some in the past, but they had never kept him out of the loop. What was even weirder was Sirius staying up late to do research for it. He and James usually came up with outrageous ideas that Remus then fleshed out, finding the perfect magic for each trick.

Maybe it had to do with the werewolf thing. His friends had only figured it out a few months before summer break, and sure they gave him a new nickname, but maybe they didn’t trust him anymore. Remus laid his head back on the pillow and squeezed his eyes shut. For two years he had known what it was like to be around other kids for the first time in his life and more than that, what it was like to have friends. Now, if the one thing that had always kept him away from people was what ruined everything...Remus didn’t know what he would do if Sirius cut him out completely. It was only their fourth day back, how was Remus going to survive the whole year like this?

He woke up the next morning to an empty room. Figuring the others had gone down to breakfast, he got dressed and headed downstairs. He found James and Sirius in the common room with a small crowd of others that had formed around McGonagall as she pinned a paper to the announcement board.

“Absolutely no students are to roam the halls at night or enter the Forbidden Forest without express permission,” James read. “Aren’t these the same rules as always, Professor?”

“Yes,” said McGonagall with a pointed look, “but some students seem to need reminding, Mr. Potter.” 

James flashed her a smile and turned to whisper conspiratorially with Sirius.

“Is it true that there are werewolves in the forest?” someone asked.

“Werewolves are real?” asked a first year Muggleborn with terror in her eyes. Remus felt himself stiffen involuntarily as James and Sirius looked at him.

“Yes, werewolves are very real,” said McGonagall, “but no, there are not any in the Forbidden Forest. And though they can be aggressive during transformations, most werewolves are not dangerous between full moons, and you have no reason to fear them.”

“Then why do you only hear about werewolves who live in packs and attack people?” asked a skeptical fifth year.

“Because our society tends to be very suspicious and fearful of persons with lycanthropy, so those that are not violent tend not to identify themselves, like any wizard or witch who may have an undesirable quality, such as being homosexual or Muggleborn.”

The common room fell silent. 

“Off to breakfast, now” McGonagall said. “You don’t want to be late for lessons.”

The crowd began to disperse, and the room filled with noise again. Remus found James and Sirius waiting near the door, James looking worried about him, Sirius looking distracted. Remus planned on pretending he hadn’t heard the word werewolf that morning, but they couldn’t help but overhear the comment of a disgruntled sixth year: “She shouldn’t be able to talk like that. Someone should tell the headmaster his teachers are talking about all sorts of inappropriate things.”

Remus felt his heart hit the bottom of his stomach like a stone. Sirius stared at the ground. Normally so loud and obnoxious, now he was tight lipped. Anger flared on James’ face, though, and he stepped forward. Before he could reach the sixth year, McGonagall stepped in front of him.

“Miss Thorne, I am simply being honest so that my students do not go into the world with a skewed idea of the people whom they interact with, something I assure you Professor Dumbledore is not opposed to. Instead of worrying about what I say outside of the classroom, you might spend more time focusing on your own transfiguration skills, which could certainly use some improvement.” She turned to where the boys stood, James barely a foot away, and nodded. “Potter, Black, Lupin. I suggest you make your way to the Great Hall now.”

“Yes, Professor,” James said as she stepped through the portrait hole and out of sight, the sixth year and her friends rushing off in a huff. James turned to face his friends with eyes wide with respect. “I love that woman,” he said, his voice so full of mock tenderness that Remus and Sirius couldn’t help but laugh.

***

Andromeda spent all of Potions thinking about the letter she had gotten that morning. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just more reminders from her parents of how important her studies were this year. How important it was for her to represent the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black honorably. She had handed the letter to Ted and returned to her porridge, uninterested in anything her parents had to say. Ted read the note with a stormy expression.

“And by honorably,” said Ted’s friend Marcus from where he sat beside them, “they definitely mean snogging a Muggleborn Hufflepuff, right?”

Ted’s frown turned into a grin as Andromeda choked on her food. She pushed Marcus playfully, the group returning to its normal breakfast conversation.

Andromeda wasn’t exactly happy growing up in a dreary mansion with strictly cold parents, but she took what they said as the truth. At eleven, she was like a lot of the pureblood Slytherins she met: convinced that blood status and house indicated worth. Then she met Ted. They were paired up in double Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he wasn’t worthless like a Muggle or stupid like a Hufflepuff. He changed the way she thought about everything. 

She didn’t like him because he was everything her parents disapproved of. She didn’t like him because he changed her. She loved him because he could make anyone laugh. Because he never got angry. Because he talked to plants and scrunched his nose when he read and was nice to everyone until they gave him reason not to be. She loved everything about him, including that he helped her be the person she wanted to be. 

When Potions was over, she slipped through the crowds and hurried downstairs to the library. She found herself holding her breath until she turned a corner and caught a glimpse of him at a table near the restricted section, already working. It was as if she thought he might not be there, when she knew more than anything that he always would. She took the seat next to him, pulling out her books and quills. On the table was a book tied with a purple ribbon. She looked at him questioningly.

“Happy birthday,” he said with a smile.

“But I told you not to get me anything,” she said.

“How can I not celebrate your day of independence?”

Accepting defeat, she pulled the ribbon and examined the cover. It was a wizard’s guide book to London. She looked at Ted curiously, flipping the cover open. Inside was a Muggle photo of a tall brick building.

“My mum has a friend who owns a building in London,” he explained. “She has a tenant moving out in early May, and she said she would hold the flat for us. It would mean living with Muggles instead of in a wizarding village, but I—”

He was cut off with hug that squeezed the breath out of him.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” he asked. Andromeda nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

All hope of doing homework during their free period was abandoned with the excitement of moving, so Ted pulled out a marker and began tracing vines and flowers up Andromeda’s arm, occasionally being rewarded with kisses. 

Tucked away in their secluded corner of the mostly empty library and their own happiness, neither of them noticed Lucius Malfoy watching from behind a bookshelf.

***

Remus sat cross legged on his bed, staring at his friends in confusion. Sirius sat on his own bed across the room, looking worried, while James dug through his trunk and Peter picked his way through a box of candy without any interest in the conversation.

“So can we do it?” Sirius asked.

“Fill the Great Hall with water?” Remus repeated. “Yeah, we can do it. It’s not even that difficult a spell. This is what you didn’t want to tell me you were planning?”

“We didn’t think you’d agree to the, you know, destruction of property,” came James’ muffled voice from within his cluttered trunk. He began pulling clothes out at random, tossing them so that they landed wherever.

“We can make everything waterproof first, actually,” Remus said as Sirius pulled a striped jumper off his head and threw it at James.

“Monday then,” Sirius said with a grin. Remus knew he had been itching to get into some sort of trouble. He was just relieved Sirius didn’t hate him. He needed to stop thinking so much at night. Sirius was on his way to steal some of Peter’s candy when a pair of pants brushed his face and landed on Remus’ head.

“James” Sirius yelled, “you mind not flinging your clothes at everyone?” 

James gave a muffled and passionless sorry from inside the trunk as Remus tried pulling the pants off his head. The button had gotten caught in his hair somehow, and he struggled to pull it off without ripping a chunk of hair out. He felt Sirius’ hands untangling his hair from the button until the pants came loose and fell to the bed.

“Thanks,” Remus said softly, Sirius’ hands still in his hair. Sirius’ cheeks went pink as he took a step back.

“Sure, mate.” He looked around awkwardly for a moment before turning back towards Peter.

“I’m going to go study,” Remus said, standing up.

“We haven’t even been here a week,” James said, his head popping out of the trunk with lopsided glasses and wild hair. “Why on earth are you studying?”

“You come up with the crazy ideas, I study enough to make them realistic. I’m just sticking to my role as the smart one.” James grinned like he always did when Remus bothered saying something sarcastic back to him or Sirius, and Remus slipped out the door without grabbing his books. He went downstairs to the common room and grabbed Lily from the chair where she sat reading. 

“Where are we going?” she asked, following him down flights of stairs. 

“I don’t know yet,” Remus replied. This must have been an acceptable answer because she continued following him into the courtyard, which was littered with students, then further away from the castle until they were at the deserted lakeshore. When Remus finally stopped and turned to face her, Lily didn’t get a chance to ask what was happening because he had already begun.

“So I’m a gay werewolf, which you’ve known since we were eleven because it’s painfully obvious, just like I’ve always known you’re a loudmouthed know it all, yeah?”

“I love it when you talk dirty,” she said with a smirk.

Remus continued without taking a breath.

“Well I know you hate him because he’s annoying and a show off and does stupid things all the time and that’s all really true but I’m pretty sure that I love Sirius.”

He took a breath then but couldn’t seem to let it out. He dropped down onto the sand and sat with his head between his knees. He’d never said it outloud. He’d never even thought it. He felt Lily sit down beside him and rest a hand on his shoulder; Remus looked up at her.

“He might be annoying and dumb and a showoff, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t also funny and kind and smart,” Lily said. Remus bit his lip unsurely. “And if you ever tell him I said any of that, I will kill you.” He laughed.

“What do I do now?” he asked.

“I’d say you have two choices,” Lily said, leaning back on the sand. “You can either tell him or spend the next four years pining.”

“I can’t tell him. It’s not exactly something you tell people. And he can’t feel the same way.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s not like me. And even if he was, I’m not pureblood.”

“Lupin, I swear.” She shook her head and looked out across the lake. “Sometimes you’re as dumb as your friends.”

“What about you, then?” Remus said teasingly. “Have anything to tell me?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she said in an amused voice.

“Just that Sirius isn’t the only dark-haired pureblood in Gryffindor. If we’re being honest about who we’re in love with…”

“I know you’re not suggesting that I’m in love with James.” Remus raised his eyebrows. “Remus! There is literally no one I hate more, no one I argue with more than James Potter.” 

He shrugged and smiled knowingly, only causing Lily to look more offended.

“Just because he’s annoying and a showoff doesn’t mean he can’t be funny and nice,” Remus said. She looked at him like she had never felt more betrayed.

“James is arrogant, rude, obnoxious—”

“You forgot hot.”

“Remus!” Her eyes were bright with shock and amusement. Remus only shrugged.

“Just because he’s my friend doesn’t mean I don’t see it.”

“One, you’re insane. Two, you’re just projecting your own secret feelings for James onto me.” 

They spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the sand laughing.

***

After double Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ted followed a mass of other Hufflepuffs downstairs towards the greenhouses while Andromeda started for Ancient Runes. She didn’t make it very far before a tall blonde girl stood in her path.

“Narcissa?” Andromeda stared at her sister, all thoughts of runes gone from her head. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a free period right now.”

Narcissa just looked at her for a moment, the conflict almost imperceptible on her perfect face.

“I’ve always acted like I don’t see you at that table with him because you’re my sister. But when Lucius told me what you said in the library…” She closed her damp eyes, and when she opened them again, they were hard.

“Lucius? What are doing listening to Lucius?”

“Andromeda, please. Stop this. Come back to Slytherin. Forget about him, and remember your family.”

“He is my family, Cissy. He is everything that we’re not. He’s good.” She wiped the tears from her eyes before they dared to fall. “I love him.”

“If you do this, I have to tell them.” 

“If you have to, Cissy, then tell them.” Andromeda smiled. “I don’t care.”

***

Most Sundays people slept in, but this morning the Gryffindor table was full of students celebrating surviving their first week back at Hogwarts. Remus listened to the conversation around him, trying to focus on his breakfast instead of looking at Sirius. Every time he talked, Remus blushed and became convinced that everyone knew. 

“It’s ridiculous that people are still talking about what McGonagall said. She was just telling the truth.” Remus smiled as he listened to what Marlene McKinnon was saying. They had never spoken before because she was a year older than them, but she and her friends sometimes hung around because they played quidditch with James. 

“She’s a professor though,” said Oliver Taylor as he chewed a piece of bacon. “It’s not her job to go around telling students her opinions. Besides, she’s giving kids the wrong idea about how safe the world is.”

“Are you kidding?” Sirius said in his customary argumentative tone.

“Wait a second,” said James. “I’ll give you the werewolves, cause they’re terrifying, right Lupin?” he elbowed Remus in the ribs. Remus nodded.

“Scare me to death,” he answered, nonchalantly taking another bite of eggs.

“Okay,” James continued. “But what she said was true. Half this school doesn’t like Muggleborns, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ten sitting at this table and that people aren’t stupid for hating them. And it’s no different with gay people.”

James turned from side to side looking for support. Remus nodded meekly with the majority of the other Gryffindors sitting around them and looked at Sirius, who was staring at his plate as he nodded. As conversation turned to less controversial topics, no one noticed James looking at his two best friends, both of whom had gone silent as they stared at their plates. James sighed and settled for staring at the other end of the table, where Lily Evans sat talking to her friends.

Breakfast was almost over when the owls came in, wreaking havoc as they dropped letters and packages everywhere. Remus watched students grabbing their drinks and pulling parcels out of their food. A few deliveries were made to the Gryffindor table, including an envelope that landed in front of Sirius. Remus watched him pick it up and read the letter inside. It was everyone’s habit to share their mail, but Sirius read his silently and then looked around the room. 

“What is it?” James asked, but Sirius ignored him, standing up and walking off. James turned to Remus with a confused look.

“I’ve got it,” Remus said, standing and walking after him.

He followed Sirius across the Hall, getting curious when they didn’t head towards the door. Instead, they walked the length of the Hufflepuff table until stopping at the very end. The group sitting there quieted when Sirius stopped, Remus standing confused behind him.

“Sirius?” A tall, black-haired girl looked up at him with a strange look on her face. She seemed afraid.

“Hi, Andromeda,” Sirius said. He turned to the mousy-haired boy with glasses that sat next to her. “You’re Ted, right? Ted Tonks?”

“Yeah,” Ted said hesitantly.

Remus looked from one apprehensive face to the other.

“I’m Sirius, Andromeda’s cousin. It’s really nice to meet you.” Sirius stuck out his hand, which Ted looked at for a second before shaking it with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Ted turned to Andromeda, his smile getting bigger. She looked up at Sirius.

“Maybe I could come visit you in London some summer,” Sirius said to her.

“I’d like that,” she replied, grabbing Sirius’ hand.

Remus followed Sirius wordlessly out of the Hall. They were done with breakfast, apparently. Remus was going to ask what that had all been about, but before he was able to, Sirius stopped in front of the staircase and Remus ran into him. Remus took a step back as Sirius turned around, a strange expression on his face.

“Andromeda is moving in with a Muggleborn after she graduates, so her parents have disowned her,” he said matter of factly. “My parents wrote to make sure I don’t speak to her. To tell me that she’s not part of the family anymore.”

“Sirius—”

“You know I’m not like them, right? James is my best mate, and he happens to be pureblood. And we say a lot of things to Lily and her friends, but it’s not because her parents are Muggles.”

“I know,” Remus said softly.

Sirius nodded, looking at the space behind Remus like he was still trying to figure something out in his head. Then he turned and started up the staircase, Remus following after him. They walked without a word through the halls, through the portrait hole and across the common room, then upstairs. Remus still wasn’t sure that Sirius was alright. When they got to the dormitory, Sirius turned around, and it was like he had resolved whatever he was thinking about but wasn’t sure what that resolution meant.

“Sirius?” 

He looked at him then, looked straight into Remus’ eyes.

“Remus, I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

He waited, but Sirius didn’t say anything. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed him. When he pulled away, Sirius looked surprised at himself, and his face was flushed. Remus breathed slowly, trying to process what had happened, unable to move.

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said suddenly.

“I’m not.” The breathing came, and Remus looked up with a smile. “I’ve been waiting three years for you to do that.”

A smile began to play on Sirius’ face as the disbelief washed away until he was grinning. Remus kissed him again.


End file.
